Pivotal frame wringer



NOV. 27, ETTEN PIVOTAL FRAME WRINGER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 11, 1941 Patented Nov. 27, 1945 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE;

PIVOTAL FRAME WRINGEB Nicholas L. Etten, Waterloo, Iowa- Application April 11, 1941, Serial No. 388,024

4 Claims.

This invention relates to clothes wringers of the type mounted on power driven domestic clothes washers. This is a companion application to my co-pending applications S, N, 501,180 and S. N. 501,181, issued as Patent No. 2,846,738 on April 18, 1944, directed to wringers having safety release devices operable by pivotal movement of the frame.

The particular object of the invention is to provide a safety pressure release and roll stop operable upon pivotal movement of the wringer by pressure applied on any part of the wringer. am aware that pivotalrelease mechanisms have been made involving pivotal movement of the Wringer in relation to the gear head or such similar arrangement, but such devices involve separating the gear head from the wringer and supporting the wringer on pivotal links or the like, which introduces complications in structure which I desire to avoid. g

The particular object of the invention is to provide means to pivotally mount a practical, unitary gear head and wringer mechanism by means which will provide a release of roll pressure and stoppage of roll rotation upon pivotal movement of the complete wringer,

I will disclose and describe the device in the following descriptions and drawings in which Fig. 1 is a front elevation view of the wringer the wringer and gear head complete by the numeral iii, and the upper frame by the numeral ll. Conventional wringer rolls i2 and I3 are mounted in conventional hearings in the lower frame as shown. The inner end of the top frame is mounted on the lower frame by a stationary stab clip l3, and the outer end of the upper frame is mounted on the lower frame by a pressure reset lever i4 and the toggle lever i5, the reset lever being pivotallymo'unted on the upper frame H by the pivot l6 and attached to the toggle lever 15 by the pivot l8, the toggle lever l5 pivoting on the lower frame Ill by the pin I I. This is a conventional form of frame attachment well understood in the art and 'will not be described in further detail except to explain that the toggle lever l 5 in closed position is a stable toggle which I is released by moving the reset lever ll outwardly until the toggle pin I8 is thrown outwardly beyond the pin i1 when the entire upper frame will be released by the movement of the toggle l5. Roll pressure is provided by a conventional spring i9 held in pressure sustaining position by the adjustment screw 20.

The complete wringer is pivotally supported on an indexing flange casting 20 and interposed between the flange 20 and the frame In is a pivot plate 2i, to which the frame l0 is pivotally attached by the pivot pin 22 on'the inner end of the wringer. The wringer is normally held in fixed position by the taper plunger 23, which is held in the mating notch 24 of the pivot plate 2| by the spring 25 around the plunger rod 26. The plunger rod 26 is slidably mounted in bearings 21 and 28. By this structure it will be understood that pressure applied on the frames I 0 or II will tend to pivot the frame It around the pivot pin 22 and by the tapered notch 24 force the plunger 23 outwardly against the spring 25, whereupon the rod 26 will be moved outwardly, pushing the reset lever M with it to release the toggle i5 and with it the top frame ll.

Excess movement of the frame ill is prevented by stops 29 and 36 on the pivot plate 2|, as clearly shown in Fig. 2. It will be appreciated that the wringer is held in central position on the pivot plate 2| by the co-action between the pivot pin 22 and the taper plunger 23 in the notch 24.

Now referring againto Fig. 1, the drive to the v gear head is provided by conventional drive shaft 3| rotatably mounted in bearings 32 and 33 in the indexing flange casting 20'. The shaft 3| is held by the bearings 32 and 33 in the flange casting 20' because it is necessary to provide a slotted opening 34 in the bottom of the frame Ill by reason of the relative movement between the frame land the pivot plate 2i The drive shaft 3! mounts a conventional spur gear 35 in the gear head which meshes with a companion spur gear 36 on the vertical shaft 31. The gear 36 is fixed to the shaft 81 and drives the clutch 38 by means of a key 39 on which the clutch is slidable. The key 33 holds the loose lower gear 36' and the upper spur gear 60 in operating relationship by co-action with the pin l0 and the collar 31'. The clutch 38 is provided with internal gear openings 4| and 42 mating with the inner ends of the respective gears l0 and 36', whereby when the clutch 38 is actuated in one direction or another, the internal gears 4| and 42 will engage the ends of the respective gears 40 and 36', whereby driving relationship with the shaft is established and the mating face gear 43 may be driven in either direction at the will of the operator by moving the handle -44 to force 'the eccentric pin 45 either upward or downward to establish driving relationship with either gear 36' or 44. This is a conventional form of drive, gear head which is well understood in the art, and is believed to require no further description.

As is well understood in the art, the lower frame must be indexed pivotally around the washing machine to provide facilities to wring from out of the Washing machine or out of associated rinse tubs. Such indexing is provided in my deso that all portions of the gear housing and vice by an indexing mechanism mounted on a bracket 46 attached to the pivot plate 2|. A release latch 48 is pivotally attached to the "bracket by the pin 41 and contacts an indexing pin 49 urged upwardly by the spring 50 as illustrated. The pin 49 is adapted to engage selectively in notches 5| in the periphery of the flange and in a coacting recess in the plate 2|. By moving the index lever upward the indexing pin 49 is moved down or out of contact with the indexing notches 5i disposed around the flange of the member 20, and thereupon the entire wringer with the pivot plate 2| may be indexed to any required index notch 5|, and the wringer disposed in proper position as required by the operator.

Now referring to Fig. 2, it will be appreciated that when the wringer frame Ill is moved pivotally around the pin 22 on the pivot plate 2|, and the release plunger 26 has been actuated to release the reset lever and the top frame I I, the entire wringer including the gear head, will be pivotally moved around the pin 22, as shown in broken dot-dash outline in Fig. 2. When such movement occurs in a backward direction, the

, spur gear 36 will assume the position shown in drive to the rolls will be interrupted and. therefore the rolls will be stopped from power rotation. Similarly, upon reverse movement of the spur gear 36 to the point F forwardly, the same interruption of the roll drive occurs, and, therefore, roll stop will be accomplished by pivotal movement of the wringer in either direction. The parts It, ll, 23, 25, 26 and 21 are not shown for the position F.

It will be appreciated that the force required to accomplish the pivotal movement as above described, may be varied by adjusting the tension of the spring 25, or angularity of the plunger 23 and its companion tapered notch 24,

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new:

1. In a wringer, the combination of a wringer frame including a plurality of rolls rotatively mounted in said frame; pressure means for the rolls; a drive shaft; a reversing'gear mechanism connected with the drive shaft and including forward driving gears, and reverse driving gears; and a roll stop mechanism arranged to connect and disconnect the rolls to and from the drive shaft; a gear housing portion surroundingv the reversing gear mechanism and roll stop mechanism; a mounting plate; and a pivot mounted on the mounting plate and connecting said plate with the wringer frame and gear housing, the entire wringer frame and gearv housing being pivotally mounted on the mounting plate at a point substantially spaced away from the end of the gear housing opposite the roll supporting frame,

frame are arranged for and subject to movement around the pivot by exterior forces applied to any point on the gear housing or frame; the roll stop mechanism comprising connectible members between the drive shaft and reversing mechanism disconnectible by pivotal movement of the frame; and a release actuating mechanism operatively interconnecting the shiftable portions of the frame and .gear housing with the relatively stationary mounting plate and adapted to operate in response to pivotal movement between the 1 frame and the plate, and to release the pressure effective between the rolls.

2. In a wringer, the combination of a wringer frame including a plurality of rolls rotatively mounted in said frame, pressure means for the rolls; a drive shaft; a reversing gear mechanism connected with the drive shaft and including forward driving gears, and reverse driving gears; and a roll stop mechanism arranged to connect and disconnect the rolls to and from the drive shaft; a gear housing portion surrounding the reversing gear mechanism and roll stop mechanism, said housing portion being connected to the roll supporting frame portion of the wringer; a mounting plate; and a vertical pivot mounted on the mounting plate and connecting said plate with the wringer frame and gear housing, the

entire wringer frame and gear housing being pivotally mounted on the mounting plate at a point substantially spaced away from the end of the ear housing opposite the roll supporting frame,

- so that all portions of the gear housing and frame are arranged for and subject to horizontal arcuate movement by exterior forces applied to any point on the gear housing or frame; the roll stop mechanism disconnectible by pivotal movement of the frame comprising connectible members between the drive shaft and reversing mechanism; and a release actuating mechanism operatively interconnecting the shiftable portions of the frame and gear housing with the relatively stationary mounting plate and adapted to operate in response to pivotal movement between the frame and the plate, and to release the press effective between the rolls. r

3. In a wringer, the combination of a wringer frame including a plurality of rolls rotatively mounted in said frame, pressure means for the rolls; a drive shaft; a reversing gear mechanism connected with the drive shaft and including forward driving gears, and reverse driving gears; and a roll stop mechanism arranged to connect vand disconnect the rolls to and from the drive shaftra gear housing portion surrounding the reversing mechanism and roll stop mechanism; a mounting plate; and a pivot mounted on the mounting plate and connecting said plate with the wringer frame and gear housing, the entire wringer frame and gear housing being pivotally mounted on the mounting plate at a point substantially spaced away from the roll supporting frame, so that all portions of the frame are arranged for and subject to movement by exterior forces; the roll stop mechanism comprising connectible members between the drive shaft and reversing mechanism disconnectible by pivotal movement of the frame; and a release actuating mechanism operatively interconnecting the shiftable portions of the frame and gear housing with the relatively stationary mounting. plate and adapted to operate in response to pivotal movement between the frame and the plate, and to release the pressure effective between the rolls.

assume 4. In a wringer. the combination of a wringer frame including a plurality of rolls rotativeiy mounted in said frame a spring acting to hold the rolls in ccacting relation; a drive shaft: a reversing gear mechanism connected with the drive shaft and including iorward driving gears, and reverse driving gears; and a roll stop mechanism arranged to connect and disconnect the rolls to and from the drive shaft; a gear housing portion Y surrounding the reversing gear mechanism and roll stop mechanism, said housing portion being integral with and rigidly connected to the roll supporting frame portion of the wringer and surrounding the reversing gear mechanism; a mounting plate; and a pivot mounted on the mounting plate and connecting said plate with interconnecting the shiitable portions of the frame and gear housing with the relatively stationary mounting plate and adapted to operate in response to pivotal movement between the frame and the plate, and'to release the pressure latch to release the spring pressure eii'ective between the'rolls. w NICHOLAS L. E'I'I'EN. 

